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21 sats \ 1 reply \ @kepford 25 Oct 2023 \ parent \ on: What if Bitcoin mining was ASIC-resistant? bitcoin
Profitability is relative to exchange price for bitcoin of course. Mining off solar is not likely to be profitable for some time. Now, if you are installing solar for other reasons it can make sense to mine with excess power. It is very complex to calculate so don't trust your gut or me. Solar has a high cap cost to get started and mining as well. There are pleb mining groups on telegram that are very helpful.
Thank you, I'll have to check it out.
Just throwing out some napkin math numbers on small scale DIY solar setup:
$0.10/kWh from utility company
~ 3kW ASIC (pick your model)
3kW of panels (~$0.50/W new / ~$0.25/W used) $750-1500
5 max sun hours per day ($1.50/day of power produced / saved from utility (15kWh))
5kWh of battery cells ~$1500
5kW inverter ~$750
Cables/Fuses/Connectors/Switches ~$250
Total solar equipment $3250 - 4000
Time to ROI on just power production: 6 - 7.5 years. ($4000 / ($1.50/day) / 365 = 7.3 years)
Knock off 30% for the US federal solar tax credit that becomes 4.5-5 years.
Panels maintain 90% efficiency out to 25 years. Batteries last ~10 years.
~$400 S17 @ 73Th/s currently makes ~15000 sats/day but we only have 5 hours of equivalent max power so 15000 * 5/24 = 3125 sats/day or ~$1
The extra ~$1/day cuts down your ROI from 5 years to just over 3 years to pay off your combined solar + mining setup. Certainly able to optimize this more with better price and power efficiency.
As always with mining returns calculations, there are unknowns like BTC/USD price and difficulty adjustments. Having your own infrastructure is inherently valuable since your cost doesn't inflate AND you have more sovereignty because you don't rely on others to produce electricity.
I think these returns, as long as I am not missing something important, are good enough that's it's worth trying IMO.
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